Marijuana stolen from UPS delivery results in felony theft charges

PORT ORCHARD — A UPS Store employee who found 2 pounds of marijuana in a package destined for out of state was charged with felony theft when he called Port Orchard Police to turn over the marijuana he had found.

The 34-year-old told an officer that a driver had refused to take the package because it smelled strongly of marijuana. The employee opened the package, he told the officer, to confirm there was marijuana inside.

He gave the officer the name of the man who paid to ship the package overnight to Alabama and a quarter-pound of marijuana.

The officer later returned to the store to review surveillance footage, which showed the employee opening the box after the driver refused it and removing a large plastic bag, which he then stashed out of sight. When the employee finished his shift, the footage showed him putting the plastic bag in his backpack and leaving work, according to court documents.

The officer went to the man’s residence, and although he claimed he no longer had the pot, his girlfriend went into her painting studio and brought the officer a bag of marijuana with 1 3/4 pounds inside.

The employee was charged May 2 in Kitsap County Superior Court with second-degree theft and possession of more than 40 grams of marijuana.

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